Handbook of Evangelical Theology - Book Summary

Handbook of Evangelical Theology - Book Summary

Introduction

The book by Lightner focuses on the systematic theology but it is different is a sense that it compares different viewpoints within the umbrella of evangelicalism instead of restricting on the authors' own views. The books defines the main categories of theology that extends to the scriptures of Bible, anthropology i.e. man, God, hamartiology i.e. sin, ecclesiology i.e. church, soteriology i.e. salvation and so forth. These categories are defined in details along with comprehensive historical backgrounds of the same. The main aim of the book is to identify the reader as to where he or she stands relative to other groups. The author of the book, Lightner is a fine writer, theologian and a long time professor. He has been an author of number of books on the same subject published by Regular Baptist Press.

Evangelical Theology

The word "evangelical" is often used to describe a conservative form of Christianity that emerged in the twentieth century; it usually refers to evangelical theology. Evangelical theology is skeptical about the claims of the resources created to mediate salvation and revelation. There is no ontological continuity between the transcendent creator and finite creatures. Evangelical theology looks with skepticism the claims of natural theology or doctrine of analogy. Human knowledge of God is based on the Word of God that condemns human error and sinfulness, but mercifully proclaims forgiveness on the cross of Christ. The cross is God's judgment on human sinfulness. Evangelical theology as theology that makes the word of the cross, is therefore a theologia crucis. Despite these rather negative proposals that are part of its initial phase, much of the history of evangelical theology has been an attempt at reconciliation with the most positive image of the man who has evolved in Western thought under the impact Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the modern scientific revolution.

Since the late seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century, evangelical theologians developed an understanding of Christianity that focused on the moral teaching and example of Jesus. In the early nineteenth century religion was defended in terms of individual experience and interior.

Evangelical theology is much more critical of the man in kerygmatic theology of the Word, which appeared with the publication of the Letter to the Roma7.105 (1919), K. Barth (1886-1968). This reassertion of traditional doctrines, sometimes called "neo-orthodox" boldly challenged contemporary thinking on the basis of that old evangelical principle that human reason and human projects are inevitably tainted by sin. R. Bultmann (1884 -1976).

The Bible is considered to be "inspired" by God to humans which means meaning that it is considered that God has "supervised" the writing of each line of the Bible so that it contains a message in human language sent by God using the intellect, writing styles and human editorial talent. This concept is called "divine inspiration” and often referred as "the Word of God" or "Scripture" (Biblical language). It is considered infallible and in some evangelical circles it is known ...